Foxworth Architecture was asked to facilitate the design of a world record breaking sized disco ball to become an iconic tourist attraction. The 55’-0” diameter (think 5-story building) disco ball was to be built as a component of the upcoming Phase 4 Waterfront Park project. Located in the West-End area of Louisville, Kentucky this monumental icon all services as a community gathering and entertainment place. Temporary stages can be erected below the giant sphere, ice-rinks can be set up during winter months. The area can host food trucks and the immediate site provides tiered seating. This spectacle of a monument was anticipated to reinvigorate the local neighborhoods with an influx of park-goer and tourist dollars.

Why a giant disco ball, you ask? Louisville, Kentucky is home to Omega Mirror Products who manufactured 90% of all disco balls at the height of the era.

The 60’ diameter ball has an interior steel super structure which supports a shell composed of thousands of polished stainless-steel boxes or facets. The boxes all unique in size and height articulation allowing the ball to closely match the look and design of an actual mirrored disco ball. The project was designed parametrically using Grasshopper and Rhino 3D in order to explore infinite configurations. This also allowed the use of Karamba 3D for structure analysis and optimization.

In order to satisfy the Guinness Book of World Records, this colossal ball must be raised above the ground and must spin! We achieved this be way of bracing and suspending the ball from three massive cast-concrete pillars. The ball spins on an axial steel post using hydraulic motors at the top and bottom.